Mr. James Armstrong is a rank and file "foot soldier" and the proud proprietor of Armstrong's Barbershop, a cultural and political hub in Birmingham, Alabama, where hair was cut, civil rights marches organized and battle wounds from police truncheons iced. This film follows 85-year-old Mr. Armstrong as he experiences the manifestation of an unimaginable dream: the election of the first African American president. This colorful and courageous activist of the Civil Rights era casts his vote, celebrates Barack Obama's victory, and proudly unfurls the American flag he carried across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965 as he is inducted into the Foot Soldiers Hall of Fame. Mr. Armstrong links the magnitude of the present paradigm shift with challenges he faced in the past: from his sons' integration into an all white school to the Bloody Sunday march for voting rights.

When Michael, a shy American tourist, meets Geneviève, the Parisian girl of his dreams, at the Louvre museum, he is determined not to let her get away. But when a misplaced cellphone threatens to upend Michael’s chance to see Geneviève again, he must undertake a journey through the streets of Paris, aided by the mysterious Maestro, an old street poet. A sweet, funny meditation on life and the pace at which it is lived, the film looks at love and how much one’s life can change in a wink of the eye. Featuring Michael Gladis from the Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning show, Mad Men.

The Irish "phone box", aka phone booth, has gone from the center of society to the verge of extinction. Until the 1980s, most houses in Ireland were without telephones. The humble phone box was the chosen method of instant communication— at the heart of many lives. However, evolving technology led the way for the demise of the phone box which is now on its way out. A road trip around the country leads us to wonderfully quirky characters who recount their memories of the small concrete structure that was so important in rural Ireland—in this lighthearted tribute to the recent past.

A tour of the Oregon State Hospital involving the local press and a State Senator was conducted to uncover the deplorable conditions of the facility, filming location of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. What they didn't expect to find were thousands of corroded copper urns containing the cremated remains of unclaimed psychiatric patients, some dating back to the late 1800's. Over the century, the canisters were exposed to water, resulting in a wildly colorful corroding effect on the cans. Artist David Maisel captured beautiful photographs of these enigmatic vessels in an art exhibit and book. See [page 19] for the Gallery Show "Library of Dust" at Bohemia Framing and Fine Art where six of Maisel's stunning color photographs will be displayed from April 1, First Friday throughout the festival.

A young boy awakens from a nightmare on a dark and stormy night. His cries wake his father who comes to his bedside. The father proceeds to regale the boy with a dark and epic bedtime story that is one part history, one part autobiography, two parts make believe and riddled through and through with the honest-to-goodness truth. This haunting, allegorical story leaves us with plenty to interpret. Featuring Will Oldham from Wendy and Lucy (2009 AIFF). [adult content]

Through the story of a single bird rescued from the oily waters of the Gulf Coast following BP's Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010 - we are offered a glimmer of hope in the midst of an unprecedented ecological disaster. Nearly 9,000 birds were picked up in the four months following the spill. One of them was bird number 895, a young Brown Pelican found orphaned in the water, covered in oil. Pelican 895 is delivered by wildlife biologists to an emergency bird rehabilitation center where he is monitored 24 hours a day by a dedicated staff of both ordinary people and wildlife experts, many of whom travel the world responding to oil spills. 895 must be thoroughly and painstakingly cleaned of oil and must learn to feed himself before his release - or there will be little hope for his survival back in the wild.

In an unknown space in an empty city covered by heavy snow, there is nothing but a revolving door that slowly spins in the Wonder Hospital. A girl enters the mysterious place that alters the way of seeing physical beauty. She is given a choice between the two images of her face, "Before" and "After." Her desire for superficial beauty leads her to chase after the luring "After" images on a path of advertisements throughout the hospital. But in the end she finds something unimaginable and irreversible and realizes that beauty is something very different from what she expected. This surreal journey is animated using 3D computer generated images combined with live action puppets.